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Essay refreshed February 2022

Wilfredo Lam, The Jungle, 1942-43, gouache on paper mounted on canvas, 94-1/4 x 90-1/2" / 239.4 x 229.9 cm (The Museum of Modern Art, New York) — This Cuban artist united European Surrealism with Afro-Caribbean culture.

Wifredo Lam, The Jungle

by Dr. Doris Maria-Reina Bravo

Mesa Verde — Archaeological sites are under constant threat from human and natural forces.

Mesa Verde and the preservation of Ancestral ...

by Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank

Lady K'abal Xook pulling a thorned rope through her tongue (detail), Yaxchilán lintel 24, after 709 C.E., Maya, Late Classic period, limestone, 109 x 78 x 6 cm, Mexico © Trustees of the British Museum — Carved lintels were commissioned by elites and attest to ritual activities, like bloodletting.

Maya: The Yaxchilán Lintels

by The British Museum

Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych — Warhol used a quasi-mechanical process of silkscreen to reproduce Marilyn Monroe’s familiar face again and again.

Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych

by Tina Rivers Ryan

Central Vairocana Buddha surrounded on either side by a monk, bodhisattva, heavenly king, a Vajrapani (thunderbolt holder), 673–75 C.E., Tang dynasty, limestone, Luoyang, Henan province, (photo: Kevin Poh, CC BY 2.0) — This cave complex reveals how Northern Wei and early Tang rulers used Buddhist imagery to assert authority.

Longmen caves, Luoyang

by Dr. Jennifer N. McIntire

Wilfredo Lam, The Jungle, 1942-43, gouache on paper mounted on canvas, 94-1/4 x 90-1/2" / 239.4 x 229.9 cm (The Museum of Modern Art, New York) — This Cuban artist united European Surrealism with Afro-Caribbean culture.

Wifredo Lam, The Jungle

by Dr. Doris Maria-Reina Bravo

Maize cobs, Inka, c. 1440–1533, Sheet metal/repoussé, metal alloys, 25.7 x 6 x 9 cm (Ethnological Museum, Berlin) (photo: Ethnological Museum, Berlin, CC BY-NC-SA) — A life-size metallic garden at the Qorikancha included these corn cobs, llamas, and other offerings.

Maize cobs

by Dr. Emily Engel

Nose Ornament, c. 500–200 B.C.E., Peru, North Highlands, Chavín de Huántar, hammered and cut gold, 2.3 cm high (Cleveland Museum of Art) — The location of Chavín between the desert coast and Amazon made it a key site for transmission of artistic style.

Chavín de Huántar

by Dr. Sarahh Scher

Spruce Tree House - Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado — Remarkable structures in the American Southwest were home to cliff-dwelling farmers until around 1300.

Mesa Verde

by Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank